Perception of Corruption and Media Consumption of Young Hungarians

In July 2016, Transparency International Hungary (TI), Publicus Institute and the Corvinus University conducted a joint research on what the Hungarian youth think of corruption and which media outlets they consume. Young people do not believe that endemic corruption should be tolerated, this is perhaps the most important lesson learnt from the representative survey of five hundred people between the ages of 18 and 29. The research reveals that eight out of ten young people think that corruption is a serious problem in Hungary, and 77% of the surveyed consider the political life infected with corruption. According to the survey, more than half (54 percent) of young people have personally experienced corruption: 39 percent in healthcare and 29 percent during police procedures.

In July 2016, Transparency International Hungary (TI), Publicus Institute and the Corvinus University conducted a joint research on what the Hungarian youth think of corruption and which media outlets they consume. Young people do not believe that endemic corruption should be tolerated, this is perhaps the most important lesson learnt from the representative survey of five hundred people between the ages of 18 and 29. The research reveals that eight out of ten young people think that corruption is a serious problem in Hungary, and 77% of the surveyed consider the political life infected with corruption. According to the survey, more than half (54 percent) of young people have personally experienced corruption: 39 percent in healthcare and 29 percent during police procedures.

71 percent of young people think that people who are willing to engage in acts of corruption have more chance to succeed in life compared to straight, decent people. Much of the surveyed therefore think that corruption is the key for success in Hungary. Young people consider politicians (members of government and of the Parliament, mayors and municipal representatives) to be the most corrupt, for example 84% refer to the shady real estate business of politicians as corruption.

Apart from the questionable enrichment of politicians young people also regard crony capitalism as corruption: 76 percent think that it is a form of corruption when government contracts are awarded to family members and business friends of decision-makers. The government-financed construction of stadiums and the money-drain of the Central Bank (MNB) through its various foundations finished in what can be described as a dead heat: both are considered corruption by 61 percent of young people. The survey shows that the long-term memory of young people is in good shape, as nearly two-thirds of them still consider corruption the scandalous reallocation of tobacco kiosk licenses in 2013 by the government. In addition, three-quarter of the surveyed judged graft the outrageous land auctions and the widespread misappropriation of subsidies from the European Union.

Although four-fifths of young people think that corruption pervades the entire country, an even larger percentage (84 percent) feel that this should not be tolerated. Two-thirds of people between the ages of 18 and 29 would be willing to report wrongdoing to the authorities.

More than half of the surveyed expect the media to inform the people about the risks of corruption. At the same time, frequent news of corruption trigger indifference in young people, and news about thefts in the size of hundreds of millions or billions of Forints is difficult to comprehend. In a focus group with young people it was also stated that due to the excess amount of news on acts of misuse, it is impossible to follow who stole how much. Young people between the ages of 18 and 29 get information mainly from news sites, and they regard online newspapers and foreign news channels as trustworthy. Contrarily, they don’t trust state media, and find that it does not report on government corruption.

This report was presented byJózsef Péter Martin, executive director of Transparency International Hungary, András Pulai, director of Publicus Institute, and Tamás Bokor, assistant professor, BCE at the annual Sziget Festival. Keynote speeches were given by: Colleen Bell, U.S. Ambassador to Hungary and Anne-Marie Maskay, First Counselor and Chargée d’Affaires of the French Embassy; Iain Lindsay, British Ambassador to Hungary was also present at the event.

This survey have been conducted over telephone, by Publicus Reseach in its call center between 5-12 of July, 2016, asking 500 18-29 years old Hungarians. The results are representative of the 18-29 Hungarians by age, gender, education, region, and types of settlements. Any sampling error have been weighted against the relevant data of the Hungarian Statistical Office’s 2011 Census. The margin of error is +/-4.4%.